NCCF 7.7.16 Comments1
Date: July 7, 2016 UPDATED
To: Donna Girardot, Chair, NHC Planning Committee
Chris O’Keefe, Planning Director, NHC
From: Karen Dunn, AICP, Clean Communities Coordinator
Mike Giles, Coastal Advocate
North Carolina Coastal Federation
309 Salisbury Street
Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480
RE: Proposed Text Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance (A-424, 07/17)
The New Hanover County Planning Staff has proposed text amendments to the current Zoning Ordinance (A-
424, 07/17) to serve as a “bridging ordinance” until a new development ordinance is created and adopted. All
existing references to the 2006 CAMA Land Use Plan must be removed and replaced with references to the
place types within the comprehensive land use plan or other designations as appropriate.
The intention of the proposed text amendments is to maintain the spirit and intent of existing regulations. The
Federation supports all the Planning Staff’s “bridging” text amendments with the exception of removing
Section 72-42 (4) Mining, High Intensity Mining Operations.
Please consider deferring Section 72-42, (4) from proposed text amendments A-424 to allow staff (and
others including a professional geologist) additional time to research and review alternative language that
will uphold the spirit and intent of the zoning ordinance. Staff’s recommendation is not “policy neutral” for
the following reasons:
The current text in the zoning ordinance reads as follows:
72-42, (4) High Intensity Mining activities shall not be allowed in areas classified as aquifer resource
protection or watershed resource protection on the CAMA Land Classification Map.
The Planning Staff recommends deleting the above section in its entirety with the following explanation:
“Note 15: Section 72-42 sets supplemental regulations for High Intensity Mining Operations, including
subsection (4) that disallows the use in the Aquifer Resource Protection or Watershed Resource Protection land
use classifications from the ’06 Plan.
High Intensity Mining is currently only permitted in the I-2 zoning district by Special Use Permit. Based on the
limited areas of I-2 zoning that overlap with the Aquifer Resource Protection and Watershed Resource
2
Protection areas, Staff recommends removing this subsection and rely on the special use permit process to
address any concerns related to aquifers, surface and groundwater, and other potential external effects of the
proposed mining operation.”
In the current zoning ordinance, High Intensity Mining activities are prohibited in areas classified as aquifer
resource protection or watershed resource protection. Therefore, the special use permit process does not
apply to a prohibited use. The proposed text amendment is not “policy neutral” and further supports the need
to update and retain the Aquifer Sensitivity map in Plan NHC as a bridge until a comprehensive groundwater
study is conducted.
With the elimination of the Aquifer Sensitivity Map (which identifies aquifer resource protection and
watershed resource protection areas), to be "policy neutral", Planning Staff must revise Section 72-42, (4) to
uphold prohibition of High Intensity Mining within these aquifer protection areas.
If the Planning Board chooses to review Section 72-42, (4) at the July 7, 2016 Planning Board meeting, the
Federation recommends the following alternative language:
Section 72-42 (4) High Intensity Mining activities shall not be allowed in areas classified as aquifer resource
protection or watershed resource protection on the CAMA Land Classification Map. primary recharge areas of
principal aquifers (combined Castle Hayne and Peedee aquifers – confined and artesian) and secondary
recharge areas for Castle Hayne or Peedee where occurring near land surface under watertable conditions.
Consult the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Study: Hydrogeology, Hydraulic Characteristics, and
Water-Quality Conditions in the Surficial, Castle Hayne, and Peedee Aquifers of the Greater New Hanover
County Area, North Carolina, 2012–13 and the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority for detailed aquifer
information.
Removing the Aquifer Sensitivity Map does not eliminate the critical need to identify existing aquifer resource
protection areas. The USGS 2012-13 study can help classify these areas. Deleting Section 72-42, (4) from the
zoning ordinance brings to light potential and detrimental land use conflicts and threats to our drinking water
resources.